Roots
by pinkturtle55
Summary: Six teenagers walk into the woods and stumble upon a serial killers latest victim. When they receive personal messages they know they have no choice but to start an investigation of their own. With Friday soon approaching and the threat of another death only they can prevent, can they find the killer before it's too late or are they destined to be his next victims? AU. Teenfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, it's been awhile, but here is another Criminal Minds fanfic! It's AU and a teenfic as stated in the summary. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear what you think!**

Leaves crinkled under their feet and the cool wind swept Emily's hair across her shoulder. The stars were barely visible between the trees and an animal scurried in front of them.

"Do you even know where we're going?" She looked up to Aaron.

He put his arm around her shoulders, "What, you scared?"

"Don't even start," she shrugged away from his touch.

"I'm just kidding, Emily! I know where we're going, look, we're almost here." He brought her close to him again, "the view will be worth it."

Emily smiled and leaned close to him. "I'm freezing my ass off, it better be worth it."

"Here," Aaron stopped, he took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

XXX

Morgan looked at his phone and saw the time, "Dammit," he hissed. He was late. Again. He stuffed his hands in his letter jacket and stared at the ground as he hurried through the woods. What was he going to say this time? Branches whipped his face as he started to jog. The path was familiar, and he knew he wasn't too far.

He couldn't help but grin. His heart was racing. He picked up his speed.

XXX

JJ wiped the tears off her cheek again. She stopped to catch her breath, she had to remind herself to breathe. It was too hard. She couldn't get enough air, she was suffocating. She had to get away. A new batch of tears came and she started to run.

She couldn't stay there anymore. It was too terrible. The silence, the emptiness. The fact that everyone pretended not to know what day it was. If she got far enough in the woods she could breath. Maybe she could escape all of it. Maybe it would all be okay.

But that was a joke, and she knew it. No matter how far she ran, she could never escape. But that didn't stop her. She continued into the woods.

She would have been 25 today.

JJ's footsteps continued on the hard dirt. She gasped for breath.

But instead she was dead.

XXX

Reid shuffled his feet. It was cold. He looked up and saw the moon in the gap of trees. He sat down on a tree stump, and then stood up again. He wiped off the seat of his pants, he wanted everything to be perfect tonight. He ran his fingers through his hair for the upteenth time that night and took in a deep breath.

Soon, he told himself. But he couldn't wait. The sounds of the woods surrounded him. Crickets sounded, and small animals scurried about. He loved the sounds. Or maybe he just loved what came with the woods.

XXX

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Garcia's face was burning red. She slammed the front door when she left, she wanted them to feel her anger.

She muttered under her breath and slammed her feet to the ground with each step. She had so much rage. It was consuming her. She couldn't hold it anymore. She hurried into the woods, she picked up a rock and threw it.

It wasn't enough.

She needed to do something. She continued into the woods. "I fucking hate you!" She screamed to the sky.

But nobody heard her. Nobody ever heard her.

XXX

"Did you hear that?" Emily asked.

"Hear what?"

Emily stopped walking, "listen," she said.

The night sounds continued, a gust of air rustled the trees.

"You're just being paranoid Emily, it's right up there," he pointed up the trail, "tonight's going to be perfect. Just you, me, and this amazing view."

They continued to walk down the trail. "I heard something," Emily whispered to herself.

XXX

Morgan ran into the opening, "sorry I'm late," he blurted out immediately. But he didn't see the usual small shape. "Hey," he called out, "you here?" He walked around the area, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but it was still hard to make out some things.

"Look, I'm sorry I'm late, okay? I'll make it up to you," the teasing was evident in his voice. "Come on, don't leave a guy waiting, I've been waiting for weeks, ain't that long enough?" But still there was no response.

Maybe they were running late too, he thought. But he knew that wasn't the case. He was the late one in their relationship. He started to run, scouring the area. Something was wrong.

Something was really wrong.

XXX

JJ didn't know where she was anymore. It was so dark, only the light of the moon was there. She stopped to catch her breath. The fresh, cool air filled her lungs. She could finally breathe. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wiped her cheeks again.

She walked again, looking up at the sky. Her sister had loved the stars. They used to sit out in the backyard together and stare at them. Sometimes they came into these woods and stayed there until they could hear their dad shouting for them to come in.

But they always stayed close. Far enough to get away from the lights, but just close enough to get back home.

She looked down from the sky and let out a blood curdling scream.

XXX

The woods rustled behind him. but they didn't sound like an animal. It was bigger. "Hey, you here?" He smiled.

But there was no response. Reid looked around, but it was too dark to see into the woods. He was probably just being messed with.

"Just come out, okay? I thought tonight was supposed to be romantic." He almost whined. But no one came out of the woods.

He let out a sigh. He fixed his hair one more time and walked into the woods.

XXX

She felt better. Not great, but better. She could finally think again. The fresh air helped. Garcia ran through the night. It started out okay, but that's how it usually went. Everything was fine, until, well, it wasn't.

She just needed to be alone. They all did. She didn't want to face them again that night. She didn't want another screaming match. She shook her head and started to hum. Just a slow quiet tune. Something to get her mind off things.

Suddenly she heard something behind her and spun around. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

XXX

Emily started to run, "you hear that now?" She shouted behind her.

"Slow down, Em, I'm coming!" Hotch shouted behind her. They sprinted through the woods, following the sound. When Aaron caught up to her he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Maybe we should get out of here," he said.

"You're kidding, right?" Emily ripped out of his grip. Another sound came from the woods. "You do what you want, but I'm going."

She started to run, and Aaron followed. Dread filled him. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

He had to make sure she stayed safe.

Emily slowed, listening again. She heard noises to her right. She ran through the trees, suddenly she was in an opening of sorts. All she saw was a dark outline before she slammed to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2- Aaron

**Hey guys- Happy April! Thanks for reading and for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews! I love hearing what you guys think :) **

**Just a quick explanation for the rest of the story. Since this fic involves six main characters, each chapter is going to focus on a different character. They will vary in length, some being a little shorter (like this one) and some being a little longer. **

**I hope you guys enjoy, and as always, I would love to hear what you think! **

The night seemed darker somehow– more ominous. But that made no sense, because the sky was lit up with flashing red and blue lights. There were too many people to count walking in and out of the woods. Uniformed officers lined the trees, unaware of what was happening within.

Aaron looked around. Garcia was still crying and JJ had not spoken yet. He brought his arm around Emily and pulled her close. She was shivering, so was everyone else. He needed to do something– needed to take control.

"Is everyone okay?" Aaron asked, although he knew the obvious answer.

"Yeah," Morgan grunted. Reid nodded next to him.

Garcia answered with a sniffle and JJ just stared at the ground.

Emily leaned closer to him, "who would do something like that," she whispered.

But nobody answered. There was no answer. They all just stared, waiting. Aaron took in a deep breath, he wanted to do something to help them, but what could he do? They had all just seen something... something he couldn't even describe. Thinking about it hurt him, but he needed to keep a straight face, he needed to be strong for them.

"How much longer are we gonna have to wait?" Morgan asked, shifting from foot to foot.

"The police are probably busy, you know, dealing with... that," Emily bit, glancing at the woods, and then back.

"All I'm saying is I've been freezing my ass off in the woods, where they told us to stand a half hour ago. I've got stuff going on."

"Really?" Emily mocked, "because this is exactly what I had planned for my Friday night."

Morgan opened his mouth to answer, but Aaron stopped him, "guys, I know we're all tired and we've been through a lot tonight, but let's just try to stay calm. The police will talk to us soon and then we can go home."

Everyone was silent again. Radios echoed and squad cars came and left. Finally a woman walked up to them. She was wearing a pantsuit and a pair of dark tennis shoes.

"I'm Detective Morris," she introduced herself, "sorry for keeping you waiting."

"It's alright," Hotch said.

"Okay," The detective started, "I want to go over what happened. You guys were all in the woods together?"

"We were in the woods, but not together. Well at least not all of us," Aaron answered.

"Okay... can someone explain what happened?"

Everyone looked at Garcia, who wiped her eyes, "I guess I'll start..." her voice was shaking, "I was walking down the path and then JJ ran out of the woods. She was covered in blood... she wouldn't stop screaming. I had no idea what had happened."

"What were you doing in the woods alone?" Detective Morris asked.

Garcia looked down, "I got in a fight with my parents. I guess I was blowing off some steam."

"Okay," she looked around, "does anyone else know what happened?"

"Well," Reid started, "I was in the woods. I heard something and thought it was... someone. I went to go look and I found JJ and Garcia."

"Yeah, same for me," Morgan said, looking away from everyone.

Before the detective asked again, Emily started talking, "Aaron and I were walking down the trail and we heard someone scream. We ran through the woods and found everyone else."

"We tried to get JJ to talk," Aaron added, "but then she was hyperventilating. I figured out the blood wasn't hers, so we were trying to figure out where it came from. She still wouldn't say anything, but she brought us through the woods... then we found... her."

Garcia started to cry again and Emily shrugged out of Aaron's arm and walked over to her. Aaron watched as she leaned close to her and started to talk. He couldn't hear what she said, but soon Garcia was just sniffling again.

Aaron looked over at JJ again. She was staring at her red stained hands. Her eyes were blank and she was unmoving.

The detective looked around at them, "you guys should go home now. It's been a long night," she glanced at JJ, "does anyone have her parents number?"

JJ continued to stare at her hands, "no," she whispered.

"What?" Aaron leaned closer.

"No." She said nothing else, just no.

"I can drive her home," Aaron offered. I'm parked right down the street.

Detective Morris thought for a moment, then sighed, "alright. Just make sure you talk to your parents and they know you are okay."

"Will do," Aaron said, and then the detective left.

Despite the detective's dismissal of them, nobody moved. "Should we go now? JJ, I can take you home."

"No," she whispered again.

Then Emily spoke up, "my mother is out of town. You can come over if you want. You all can," she looked around, "you know, if you don't want to go home."


	3. Chapter 3- JJ

**Hey guys! Once again, thank you for all of the reviews and alerts, I always love hearing what you guys think :) I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the chapter!**

It was hard to think. She remembered getting in the car, but everything was such a blur. People spoke to her, but it was as if she couldn't hear them. She just knew she couldn't go home.

JJ stared out the car window. She could still see the woods from where they were. Their town was surrounded by it– there was no escaping.

It was easier to think of nothing than remember what she had seen. When the car stopped she stayed where she was until the door opened. Aaron stood there and offered his hand. She looked at it, sighed, and let him help her out. She dropped her hand as soon as she was standing. She didn't look around, just followed the others into a house.

"Feel free to do whatever," Emily said to them, "just stay out of my mother's office and the dining room. You know, don't touch anything old looking."

JJ stood there, but suddenly it took too much work. She took a few steps and then sat on the hardwood floor just outside of the living room. She leaned against the wall and brought her knees to her chest. Morgan and Hotch tried to talk to her, but she couldn't open her mouth. She was afraid she might scream again.

But she could hear them now, she wasn't in as much of a daze. She just listened.

"You think she's okay?" Morgan asked Aaron.

"She's probably in shock or something," he responded, "after what she saw..."

JJ tried to tune them out. She didn't want to listen to them talk about her. Instead she listened to Garcia, Reid, and Emily. They were sitting by the fire Emily had turned on moments ago.

"You okay Penelope?" Emily asked.

"I just want to forget I saw that!" Garcia exclaimed, "I can't believe... oh God."

"Wanting to forget something more often than not causes you to just think about it more," Reid said, "the best way to forget something is to focus on other stimuli. And if that doesn't work, some claim hypnosis does, although I'm not convinced."

"Fine, then give me other stimuli to focus on!"

Reid blushed, "I don't know... you could do a puzzle or math problems."

"No puzzles, sorry," Emily said, "but we could turn the tv on or something."

"That could work," Reid said, "as long as the show doesn't trigger memories of, you know."

"Romantic comedy it is," Emily said, turning on the tv and started flipping channels.

JJ turned away and looked around the room. There were paintings on the walls, but no pictures of Emily. JJ thought back to her own house. It had once been filled with pictures of her and her sister. Until JJ was 11, then they all came down. That's how her parents coped, by pretending Rosaline never existed.

JJ didn't cope.

She thought of her every day. When JJ turned 17, all she could think of was what had happened when Rosaline was 17. She didn't have a party. Her parents never wished her happy birthday. They loved her, but sometimes it was too hard.

It was too hard for them to look at the daughter they still had. Especially when she looked so much like the one they had lost.

So instead, JJ played soccer. It was only when she was running after that ball, fighting to get there first, that she was finally at peace. This was something she had, something not in the shadows of her sister.

When JJ looked up, Morgan and Aaron were still talking. They were away from the others, speaking in hushed tones.

"You think they'll be okay?" Hotch asked. His brows were brought together, his eyes intense.

"I don't know Emily and Garcia well, but Emily seems strong, she'll be okay. And Garcia probably just needs time."

"What about Reid?" Hotch asked.

"Oh yeah, I don't know him much either," Morgan said quickly, "but he'll probably be fine. People just need time. I have to admit, it freaked me out too, man. But I mean, it happened, there's nothing we can do."

Hotch nodded, "I'm just worried. It's a lot to take."

"They'll be fine," Derek said, "we'll be fine."

On the other side of the room Emily had found 90's sitcom, complete with the laughter after corny jokes. Emily and Reid were trying to get Garcia to laugh, making fun of the terrible acting, and commenting on the cute, but terribly acted, man.

JJ stared down at her red hands. They started to shake. The blood. So much blood.

Suddenly a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. JJ didn't know how long she had been staring at her hands, but suddenly Emily was standing in front of her.

"Hey JJ, come with me, okay?" She put out a hand and tentatively JJ let herself be helped up.

She didn't know where they were going, but followed Emily down the hall and upstairs. She wasn't in the condition to question or argue. She just passively went along. Emily opened a door in front of her and turned on the light. It was a bathroom. A huge bathroom.

The walls were painted tan, there were two sinks, and mirrors seemed to be everywhere.

"The towels are in the cabinet," Emily said, "and I'll bring you some clean clothes."

JJ gave a small nod, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Without looking at herself, she undressed and turned the shower on. She put it as hot as she could handle and stepped in. Steam arose around her, and the water scorched her skin. The water ran red and JJ started to scrub her body.

When she had washed all of the blood away she leaned her head against the cool tile.

All she could think of was her sister. When she was in the woods, she was trying to forget, trying to find peace. Instead, she was met with it all over again. Beneath the blood, all she could see was her sister. Rosaline died all over again.

JJ squeezed her eyes shut, and finally let the tears fall. She let herself feel the pain.

When the water began to run cold, JJ stepped out of the shower. Her hands were still a faint crimson. She dried herself off and put on the clothes Emily had left her.

JJ walked back downstairs slowly. Everyone was still in the living room. She stood in the doorway and watched them. They were all watching the show now.

Someone had just made a joke and recorded laughter echoed in the room.

Aaron must have heard her there, he turned around, "Hey JJ, are you okay?"

JJ stared at him, stared at everyone. She opened her mouth, thought, thought of how to form the words. "She was breathing," JJ's voice cracked.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"She was breathing when I got there, and I ran."


	4. Chapter 4- Spencer

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update, but I hope you are having a great weekend and enjoy the story :) I'd love to hear what you think!**

Reid went home the next morning. He was glad he had stayed at Emily's. They spent the night watching a marathon of that terrible sitcom. He and Emily spent so much time trying to make Garcia feel better, that he forgot how scared he had been. Of course he would never tell anyone that, they already thought he was weak enough to begin with.

He was only a year younger than them, but it felt like so much more of a gap. He was a senior too, but they had all had so many experiences he hadn't. That's what he got for sitting in his house reading all day. But that was the only thing he could do. He had to always be there– making sure his mother took her meds or didn't hurt herself.

And so now Reid had to go back home, where he once again wouldn't think about himself. But what he had told Garcia was true, maybe this was the best coping mechanism.

He drove down the street in the small used car he had saved up for by tutoring after school. It was the only way he could get around in the town. Although it was small, walking wasn't always the best option for him.

He wished Derek was with him. Whenever Reid had glanced back at him the night before, Derek would look away. He didn't know if it was because of what had happened... or maybe he was ashamed of him.

Reid tried not to think about that as he drove down the street. That was something he tried to never think about. Like how they had to hide their relationship– only meeting in the woods late at night.

But then again, Derek wasn't the only one hiding something.

Reid pulled into his driveway and parked on the side. When he went to the front door it was unlocked, something wasn't right. He opened the door and the stench of smoke filled him. He ran inside, ignoring the tightness in his lungs.

"Mom?" He shouted. He didn't see fire, but there was so much smoke, "Mom?" His voice was louder. He felt his way around the kitchen, blindly pulling out his cellphone. He wasn't even sure he had dialed 911 until a woman answered. He didn't understand anything she said, all he could say was "fire" and "mom". Somehow he managed to give his address before he was coughing so hard he couldn't talk. He found his way up the stairs and ran to his mother's room.

"Spencer," Diane scolded, "you really should knock before entering someone's bedroom." She was sitting up in her bed, a book open in her lap.

"Mom, get up. Come on, we have to get out of here." Reid looked between his mom and the hallway, where smoke was building.

"Come, sit down. Let me read you a story."

"Mom!"

Reid ran over to the side of the bed and grabbed her arm.

"Spencer, get off me!" She fought away from his grip.

"Mom, there's a fire, come on!"

"A fire?" She asked, "Spencer, you're overreacting. You should really be getting more sleep."

"Get up, mom," Reid started to panic.

"You're too spoiled, you know that? But fine, if you want me to get up, I will. I have classes in an hour, but I guess I can come with you until then," She sighed, then stood and tied her robe shut.

"Now come on." The hallway was so full of smoke it was hard to see. He took his mom's arm and pulled her through the hallway and down the stairs. He started to cough and his eyes watered. Using his free hand he felt his way through the hall and to the front door. When he got it open a rush of fresh air met him, but his mom ripped out of his grip.

"I have to get my book, I'm giving a lecture on it soon, I need to have it," she hurried back into the house, oblivious of the danger.

Reid heard sirens and saw the approaching lights for the second time in two days. He ran toward where his mother had gone, but suddenly he was being pulled back.

"I have to get my mom!" He shouted, trying to rip out of their grip.

Despite his best efforts he was pulled out into the fresh air and sunlight. He fought away from the strong hands, but was blocked from running back inside.

"We'll find your mom, son," A firefighter said through his mask, "but you need to stay here."

"She's upstairs," Reid coughed. He brought his hand to his mouth and stared at his house. Smoke billowed out of the downstairs windows and a flicker of orange caught his eye. Suddenly water was being sprayed on his house and within minutes the orange was covered by thick grey.

He tightened his hand into a fist and stared at the front door. He willed his mother to walk out. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think.

He let out a breath when a firefighter walked out carrying his mom. He ran up to them, "is she alright? Mom?" He questioned, his voice high and panicked.

No one answered him and he followed them to the ambulance he hadn't noticed previously. They put her on a stretcher– she wasn't moving.

Reid ran over and forced himself in front of a medic, "is she okay?"

"She has some minor burns and is probably suffering from smoke inhalation, but she should be alright. Are you her son?"

Reid nodded, not taking his eyes away from her.

"We'll bring you to the hospital too, you should get checked out anyway, hop in," the medic offered him a seat and he sat there, staring at his mom.

XXX

Reid sat in a chair in the hospital. They had checked his breathing, he was fine, would just have a little cough. He was just waiting to see how his mom was. He shouldn't have left, he shouldn't have left her alone for so long. This was his fault... if she was hurt...

He pulled out his phone and dialed the only number he could think of. He waited as it rang and rang until he heard the answering machine.

"Hey Derek," he whispered, "please call me, okay. I need... something happened. Please, just call."

He had just hung up when he heard, "Spencer Reid?"

Spencer stood up immediately.

"Hello," said a man in scrubs, "we treated your mother for some burns and have given her some oxygen, but she'll be fine."

"Thank you," Reid whispered, "can I see her?"

"Of course, she's just back in the ER. I can show you the way."

Reid followed the man down the hall. When they entered the ER they passed various people in beds, coughing, sneezing, and bleeding. Then he heard something all too familiar, and it made his heart skip.

"Spencer!" His mother screamed.

Reid ran the following short distance until he could see his mother. She was sitting up in a bed, the curtains pulled away.

"Spencer, get these people away from me!" she was fighting the nurses, and they were trying to hold her down, "they're trying to drug me, Spencer! You need to help me!"

"Mom," Spencer walked toward her, "these people are trying to help you. There was a fire and you got hurt."

"They started the fire!" She accused, "they were trying to kill me, and they failed so now they are trying again."

"The fire was an accident mom, no one's trying to hurt you." Spencer's heart dropped as he heard his mother scream again and saw her fighting with the nurses.

He was still trying to calm her down when someone stuck a needle in her and suddenly her body went limp. He watched her as she fell to the bed.

Spencer leaned back against the wall. He wiped tears from his eyes and tried not to look at his mom again.

"Son," Reid looked up and saw the man in scrubs again, "are you alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he shrugged.

"We still need to treat your mother for her burns. This reaction could be some sort of response to the traumatic experience."

"My mother is a paranoid schizophrenic," Spencer said, his voice flat.

"Okay," the man's voice softened, "our plan was to keep her overnight to prevent her wounds from becoming infected."

"That's fine," Reid looked at the ground. He had been trying to get his mom to go to the hospital for as long as he could remember. Even if this wasn't for her schizophrenia, they could keep her from hurting herself. She needed it. She needed someone to make her take her meds. She needed someone who could care for her better than he could.

"I should go," Reid said, he didn't want to be there when she woke up.

"Could I get a phone number, so you can pick her up?"

Spencer wrote the number down and handed it to the man. Then he left the room and walked down the hall. He tried to forget everything. He tried to forget the body, he tried to forget his mother's screams, but they all seemed to blend together.

He needed to get out. He found his way to an exit and stood outside, hoping the air would help. But nothing did. Tears came to his eyes again and he hated himself for it. He went for his car, and then realized he hadn't driven.

His face tightened in frustration, and he pulled out his phone. His voice was filled with more anxiety than he would have liked, but he dialed and waited for the beep again, "please Derek, please just call."

He hung up and dropped to the grass. He leaned against the building, his legs crossed. The blue sky was so deceptive. It was as if just hours ago his house had not been filled with smoke. And just last night he hadn't seen... her... in the woods.

He brought his palms to his forehead, trying to push away the impending headache.

Voices broke him out of his thoughts and he looked up just as a group of firemen walked by. He jumped up, "excuse me," he got their attention, "were you just at that fire?"

"Yeah," one of them said, "wait," his eyes registered recognition, "that was your house, right?"

Reid nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"How's your mom?" Another asked.

"She'll be okay," he nodded. There was a moment of silence, "what caused the fire?"

The firefighters looked between each other until the one in the middle answered, "it looks like someone turned the stove on, not realizing there was a dishrag on it. That caught on fire, and then transferred to the curtains. It would have taken awhile for the stove to start that kind of fire."

Reid stared at the grass, "and the house?" he whispered.

There was another moment of silence, "try to stay with relatives or friends, kid."

Spencer just nodded.


	5. Chapter 5- Derek

**Happy Easter guys! Here's a short one, but I hope you enjoy it :)**

Derek dropped his football gear in the middle of the kitchen. Nothing to push the events of last night out of his head like a Saturday morning football practice. With every push-up and every sprint, it was like he was fighting away the night.

He checked his phone, two missed calls from Spencer. He sighed, he wasn't ready to talk to him yet. He clicked ignore and stuffed it back in his pocket. Leaving his gear on the ground, he walked to his bedroom. He knew he would get hell from his mom, but he forgot about it the moment it was out of sight.

He closed his bedroom door and lay on his back. His phone buzzed again, he glanced at it, Spencer. He sighed and tossed the phone on the ground away from his bed. Derek knew he was being a terrible boyfriend– a terrible friend even. But ever since last night...

It had been so close. They had almost been caught. So many people were there– Emily, Aaron, JJ, Penelope... He trusted Aaron and JJ, but with this... Nobody could find out. He had determined that, no one could know.

When he first met Spencer, he didn't know what it was about him, but he was different. He didn't walk around trying to exert his dominance like every other male in his school. He was quiet, soft. The guys on the football team liked to poke fun at him sometimes, but Derek did what he could to keep them away.

But if anyone ever found out, it would be bad for both of them. This wasn't the most accepting town. It was better this way. At least that's what he told himself.

The front door opened and then slammed shut.

"Derek!" He heard from down the hall, "how many times have I told you not to leave you dirty gear on my clean floors!"

Derek sat up and sighed, "Sorry, ma, I'll be there in a minute."

He stood up and stretched out his tight muscles. His phone lit up for another missed call. Derek left his room and shut the door behind him. He walked to the kitchen where his mom was and started picking up his stuff to move it to the garage.

"Where were you last night Derek? I thought you would be home by midnight." She tried to sound mad, but didn't pull it off very well.

"Sorry ma, I was working on a project at Aaron's house, it got late so I decided to spend the night."

"Hmm, project on a Friday night?" She raised her eyebrow.

"You know me, ma, as studious as they get," he grinned at her.

"Next time be sure to call," she said as she started washing dishes, "I don't mind if you're out as long as I know where you are."

"Sure thing," Derek said and then he walked into the garage and dumped his uniform in a pile in the corner. The garage door was open, so he looked outside. The sky was blue and sun was shining. He walked out into the yard. It had been forever since he had felt the warmth of the sun on his skin without a layer of padding in between. Derek lay down on the grass and closed his eyes.

He thought about the future. When they graduated high school and got out of this place. Spencer would go to college, maybe he would follow him. But then maybe they could finally be together in the open. Maybe they wouldn't have to hide their relationship. They could hold hands in public and kiss. Now they could only do that in the woods.

A noise startled Derek and he opened his eyes, sitting up. There was an envelope next to him. Derek looked around him quickly, the street was empty. He picked up the envelope and examined it. His name was printed on it.

He quickly opened it and took out a small piece of paper. He unfolded it and a typed sentence was on the white slip.


	6. Chapter 6- Penelope

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, there's more information on the killer now! I would really love to hear from you :)**

Garcia sat in front of her computer. This is what she did, especially when she wanted to be alone. She could enter her own world in the computer, she didn't have to be a part of anything else. When she had gotten home in the morning she had talked to her parents. They made up, said their apologies. But that wouldn't stop it from happening again the next night.

They tried, they really did, they just didn't understand. Garcia sighed and tried not to think about them. She loved her parents, but sometimes they just made her so angry. So angry she wanted to scream.

She spent most of the day on online games, doing her best to forget what had happened the night before. Spencer's advice seemed to be helping, but then she couldn't help herself. She needed more information.

Garcia googled the murder and looked through articles. There wasn't much there. Maybe because it just happened, but there were also things missing that they had seen clearly. Maybe they were just keeping it out of the press. She looked behind her back quickly, not sure why, because she was alone in her room. She then proceeded to hack into the police database.

She didn't want to keep thinking about it, but she couldn't stop until she knew more. She wanted to know who they had found in the woods. Maybe it would bring some sort of closure to understand.

It wasn't hard to get in their database, it was tougher for her to hack into the high school database. It wasn't hard to find in information on the case– there weren't many deaths in this town, not to mention murders. Garcia found the police report, the facts made her cringe, although there was nothing that surprised her. The detective had put in details from their conversation, but there hadn't been much. They hadn't been able to help.

After Garcia looked through her preliminary findings she started to dig. She opened multiple pages and started to skim the information. Then she opened a file and pictures filler her screen.

"Oh God," she gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. She quickly hid the pictures from sight and pulled out her phone.

She took out her cellphone and dialed Emily's number. She answered on the third ring, "Hey Garcia, you alright?"

"Oh my God Emily, you have to get over here!"

"What? is everything okay?" Garcia could here in the background that Emily was already starting to get ready.

"I'm okay, just... I found something, okay? You need to see."

"I'll be over in a minute."

Emily hung up but Garcia kept the phone up to her ear and stared at the screen. Finally she rested her phone on the table and went back to looking through the files.

Her eyes were still glued to the screen when Emily walked downstairs.

"Hey, your parents let me in. What's up?" She walked up behind Garcia.

"Okay, so I know I'm not supposed to do this and everything..."

"Garcia, what did you do?" Emily questioned, looking at the screen and trying to interpret the words, "Did you...?" She leaned closer, "You hacked the police!"

"They're not going to catch me," Garcia said, "I've covered myself."

Emily didn't say anything, just pulled up a chair. "What did you find?"

"Well," Garcia started, "I was hoping we could figure out who the victim was. I don't know, give us closure. But then I found this." Garcia clicked the pictures back to the screen and Emily stared at them.

After a long moment of silence, "Where are these from?"

"I was looking around and they're from other towns really close to here. Like, share the same woods close."

"They have to be connected."

Garcia nodded, "I was looking at reports, they never shared the detail of... you know."

"Why haven't there been news stories about this? Something?"

"The police haven't said anything about them being connected, and without that detail, they appear to be random murders."

"This isn't right," Emily said, "a _serial killer_? Here?"

"I don't know, but I want to keep digging and see what I can find. Your mom still out of town?"

Emily nodded, "until this conflict is over."

"Let's go to your place, I don't want my parents walking downstairs and seeing this. I didn't even tell them about what happened last night." Garcia stood up and started packing away her laptop and everything else she would need.

Emily helped her pull together another bag of clothes, and once Garcia smoothed it over with her parents they were sitting in Emily's car.


End file.
